U.S. patent application number 11/032407 was filed with the patent office on 2006-07-13 for divider for storage box.
Invention is credited to Sandra M. Misjak.
Application Number | 20060151585 11/032407 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 36652300 |
Filed Date | 2006-07-13 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060151585 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Misjak; Sandra M. |
July 13, 2006 |
Divider for storage box
Abstract
This invention is directed to a strong, rigid, inexpensive and
easy to manufacture divider system for use in containers,
preferable portable corrugated board boxes. The divider is
removeable and made from a single precut sheet of rigid
material.
Inventors: |
Misjak; Sandra M.; (St.
Charles, IL) |
Correspondence
Address: |
DONNA BOBROWICZ
239 N. STEWART AVE.
LOMBARD
IL
60148
US
|
Family ID: |
36652300 |
Appl. No.: |
11/032407 |
Filed: |
January 10, 2005 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
229/120.24 ;
229/120.33 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D 25/04 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
229/120.24 ;
229/120.33 |
International
Class: |
B65D 25/04 20060101
B65D025/04 |
Claims
1. A rigid divider system for removable insertion into a container
having a floor, front and rear walls and left and right sidewalls
extending upwardly all the same height from the floor, such divider
system comprising a) one sheet of a folded blank of cut and scored
rigid material, i) the width of said blank is equal to the width of
the inside distance between said left and right sidewalls of said
container, and ii) the length of said blank is equal to the length
of the inside distance between said front and rear walls of said
container plus twice the inside height of said container, b) the
blank being folded to define a right horizontal wall, a right
vertical wall, a left vertical wall and a left horizontal wall,
wherein the right vertical wall and the left vertical wall define
the dividing wall, and the right horizontal wall, the left
horizontal wall, and the depth of the dividing wall define the
bottom panel, and the folded blank having no top panel, and c)
wherein said bottom panel is of a length that is equal to the
length of the inside distance between said front and rear walls of
said container, and d) wherein said dividing wall is the same
height as the height of said container sidewalls when measured
inside said container, and e) two means for securing each top
surface edge of said dividing wall to said left and right
sidewalls, thereby providing two separate storage areas when placed
inside said container.
2. A divider system according to claim 1, wherein the folded blank
consists of corrugated board, cardboard, or plastic.
3. A divider system according to claim 1, wherein the means for
securing is a "T"-shaped clip with two arms wherein one arm is
attached at a 90.degree. angle to the second arm in the center of
the second arm thereby forming a "T"-shape, and wherein said clip
has downwardly extending sides around a hollow interior, and when
placed onto the top of the dividing wall and the left or right
sidewalls, said clip grasps the top of the dividing wall and the
left or right sidewalls thereby providing support to maintain the
dividing wall at a particular location.
4. A divider system according to claim 3, wherein said clip is
fabricated from plastic or metal.
5. A divider system according to claim 1, wherein the length of
said blank is equal to the inside distance between the front and
rear walls of said container plus four times the inside height of
said container and whereby a second divider wall is folded, thereby
providing three separate storage areas when placed inside the
container.
6. A divider system according to claim 1, further providing
multiple dividing walls, wherein the length of said blank is equal
to the inside distance between the front and rear walls of said
container plus two times the inside height of said container for
each additional divider wall and whereby said additional divider
wall is folded, thereby providing additional separate storage areas
when placed inside the container.
7. The combination of a container having a floor, front and rear
walls and left and right sidewalls extending upwardly all the same
height from the floor providing storage area and a rigid divider
system for removable insertion into said container, such divider
system comprising a) one sheet of a folded blank of cut and scored
rigid material, i) the width of said blank is equal to the width of
the inside distance between said left and right sidewalls of said
container, and ii) the length of said blank is equal to the length
of the inside distance between said front and rear walls of said
container plus twice the inside height of said container for each
divider wall desired, b) the blank being folded to make each
divider wall being a right horizontal wall, a right vertical wall,
a left vertical wall and a left horizontal wall, wherein the right
vertical wall and the left vertical wall define the dividing wall,
and the right horizontal wall, the left horizontal wall and the
depth of the dividing wall define the bottom panel and the folded
blank having no top panel, and c) wherein said bottom panel is of a
length that is equal to the length of the inside distance between
said front and rear walls of said container, and d) wherein each
dividing wall is the same height as the height of said container
sidewalls when measured inside said container, and e) two means for
securing each top surface edge of each dividing wall to said left
and right sidewalls, thereby providing at least two separate
storage areas inside said container which are divided by a rigid
dividing wall, and f) whereby materials to be stored are maintained
in an upright position within each separate storage area inside
said container.
Description
[0001] The present invention relates to storage boxes and in
particular to a novel, inexpensive and easily installed divider for
use in storage boxes.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Corrugated cardboard storage boxes are commonly used to
store a variety of office-related papers, such as documents, file
folders and binder containing documents, and other such items.
These boxes are easily available to the general public in a number
of sized, but generally rectangular or square. In particular,
unassembled boxes are purchased as flat stock and are assembled by
the user of the box. These unassembled boxes are pre-cut and scored
sheets of corrugated board which are first folded along the score
lines to form the box, and then various tabs are folded into
prescored and cut places in order to hold the box together without
the use of any kind of adhesive or other securing means. Lids are
also provided which are similarly folded from the same type of
pre-cut and scored corrugated board, and once assembled, have a
snug fit over the open topside of the assembled box. Although these
corrugated board boxes are a popular type of storage box, many
other types of rectangular and square-shaped containers made of
other materials, such as plastic sheets or cardboard, are also used
to store documents and other items.
[0003] In particular, documents to be stored may be placed into
various document-holding devices, in order to catalog them
efficiently. These document-holding devices may be light weight
cardboard or plastic file folders, heavier weight envelopes made of
cardboard or other heavy material that may or may not be
expandable, or stiff ring binders. When a variety of these
document-holding devices are placed in a vertical orientation in a
storage box, the removal of one of the larger binders or envelopes
will often cause the other file folders, binders, etc., to fall
over and to become mixed-up or difficult to deal with when
replacing the removed binder or envelope. This is annoying when
ready retrieval of particular folders is desired, and particularly
so when the document-holding devices are placed in a particular
order, such as by date or alphabetically.
[0004] In the prior art, U.S. Pat. No. 4,820,001 issued Apr. 11,
1989, to B. Paul, describes file drawer dividers consisting of
4-sided boxes that are placed inside file drawers to form
subdivisions of the drawers, into which a number of file folders
are placed. When an individual folder is removed, only the folders
in that particular box are disturbed. This s system replaces a more
expensive wire-hanging system.
[0005] U.S. Pat. No. 4,842,032, issued Jun. 27, 1989, to P.
Mastronardo, teaches a carrying case with a removable partition
wherein the shape of the compartments of the partition may be
changed, or the partition totally removed from the case. The
partition walls are adhered to the wall of the carrying case
through the use of Velcro edge panels which attach to Velcro
receptive material on the inside of the case. This provides
flexibility in the use of the carrying case and the size of the
individual compartments.
[0006] Camera bags in particular use the concept taught by U.S.
Pat. No. 4,842,032, in order to accommodate various sized lenses
and other objects needed for use with cameras. However, these types
of inventions are more complicate and too expensive to be used in
storage boxes, and in particular inexpensive cardboard boxes.
[0007] U.S. Pat. No. 6,640,944 to Adams teaches a divider or
organizer that can be placed inside flexible or rigid containers,
such as purses. These dividers are foldable, but here the walls are
moveable to provide multiple areas inside the divider, and Velcro
fasteners are used on the wall panels to provide this flexibility
to the divider.
[0008] A need exists for inexpensive dividers to be used in storage
boxes, particularly ones that are light weight, sturdy, have a
minimum of parts, and are inexpensive to manufacture.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0009] The present invention relates generally to a strong,
inexpensive, divider system for square and rectangular containers,
such as storage boxes, and in particular, is directed to a vertical
divider having a width up to the interior dimension of the
container, and being strong enough to maintain a separation between
various items stored vertically in the box. The wall of the divider
is formed by folding a cut and scored length of corrugated board or
other strong, lightweight material so that the divider wall is
formed along with a bottom wall, and when placed inside the
container partitions the interior space of the container. At least
one wall is so formed, although more are also possible.
[0010] One embodiment of the present divider system ("divider")
invention is a sheet of a corrugated board, cut into a rectangular
shape, wherein the length is the length of the storage box plus up
to twice the height of the interior of the storage box, having a
width up to and preferably that of the width of the inside width of
the storage box. This board is preferably cut and scored and which
can be and is easily first folded in half lengthwise resulting in
two sides of the board, side 1 and side 2, facing each other. Then,
each side of the board is folded on marked or scored lines provided
no further from the apex of the first fold than the height of the
box into which the divider system is to be placed. These folds are
at a 90 degree angle to each side, providing side 3 adjacent to
side 1 and side 4 adjacent to side 2, where side 3 and 4 are facing
away from each other, while being on the same horizontal plane.
This results in a divider wall which is an upside down, vertical,
"V" shape having sides 3 and 4 horizontally placed on either side
of the divider wall. The height of sides 1 and 2 may be up to the
height of the storage box into which this divider is to be
placed.
[0011] Sides 1 and 2 may be joined together by any appropriate
joining means, such as for example, glue, staples, clips, or tape,
or even tabs that are provided for in the corrugated board and that
may be folded in such a way as to join the two sides. The two sides
do not have to be joined, as the fit of the divider in the storage
box is such that the divider wall is held rigidly in place by the
walls of the box.
[0012] The divider is placed into the storage box, providing two
fixed storage compartments. Sides 3 and 4 are resting horizontally
on the bottom wall of the storage box, while the dividing wall
rises upwardly from the bottom wall of the box and perpendicularly
to the side walls of the storage box. The bottom panel is formed
from the length of sides 3 and 4 and the depth of the bottom of the
dividing wall. Optionally, a securing means may be placed on or
attached to the peak of the divider wall. It may be made of any
suitable material, such as plastic or metal. The securing means
secures the apex of the wall to the top surface of the vertical
walls of the storage box that the partition is perpendicular
to.
[0013] Although only one dividing wall forming two sections in a
storage box is described above, it is also a part of the present
invention that multiple numbers of partitions can be folded from
one sheet of cardboard by merely extending the length of the flat
cut and scored board by twice the interior height of the container
into which the divider rests.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0014] FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a scored corrugated ready to be
folded into the inventive divider system.
[0015] FIG. 2 is a side view of the corrugated board of FIG. 1 as
it folded.
[0016] FIG. 3 is a side view of the folded divider system, suitable
for insertion in a storage box.
[0017] FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of the divider system
inside a storage box.
[0018] FIG. 5 is a top plan view of a "T"-shaped clip.
[0019] FIG. 5A is a side view of a "T"-shaped clip.
[0020] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the divider system of the
present invention showing the securing means of FIG. 5 securing the
divider wall to the storage box wall.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0021] This invention is directed to a strong, rigid, inexpensive
and easy to manufacture divider system for use in containers,
preferable portable corrugated board boxes. This invention is
illustrated in the Figures, where like reference numbers represent
like features or components throughout the several views.
[0022] FIG. 3 illustrates a preferred embodiment of the divider
system 25 according to the invention. The divider system comprises
four individual walls 1, 2, 3, and 4, where walls 1 and 2 are
adjacent and walls 3 and 4 are found at a 90.degree. angle to walls
1 and 2 respectively. Walls 1 and 2 are also known as divider wall
35. This divider system 25 is intended to be placed into a storage
box 55 as seen in FIGS. 4 and 6 having a floor panel 58, front and
rear walls 50, and left and right sidewalls 54 extending upwardly
all the same height from the floor, and thereby providing at least
two separate spaces for the filing of similar or dissimilar
material.
[0023] As best seen in FIGS. 1, 2, and 4, the divider system 25 is
formed of a cut and scored blank 13 conventionally made of
corrugated board, but may be any other suitable material, such as
corrugated plastic board or cardboard, with the width cut to the
inside width of the storage box 55 bottom panel 58, and the length
being the inside length of storage box bottom panel 58 plus twice
the inside height of storage box wall panels 50 or 54.
[0024] The divider system 25 is formed by bending along the fold or
score line 14 to form two opposing vertical walls 1 and 2, and then
further bending along the fold or score lines 12 and 16, in order
to form a 90.degree. angle to walls 1 and 2 respectively, and
thereby forming horizontal walls 3 and 4. As seen in FIG. 3,
divider wall 35 is formed when vertical walls 1 and 2 are fixed
directly adjacent to each other. The length of the bottom surface
of divider system 25 is the length of walls 3 and 4 plus the width
of divider wall 35. This length is the same length as the inside
dimension of bottom wall panel 58 of storage box 55. Once divider
system 25 is placed inside storage box 55, the lateral ends 10 and
18 of the folded divider system 25 will abut walls 50 of the
storage box 55, thereby maintaining a sturdy, almost
self-supporting divider system insert, while dividing wall 35 has a
height the same as the interior height of side walls 54 of storage
box 55. Optionally, to provide additional stability to adjacent
walls 1 and 2, they can easily be attached to each other by gluing,
stapling or the like to form divider wall 35. A preferred method of
providing stability to dividing wall 35 is with a securing means as
described below.
[0025] It is also a further embodiment of the present invention to
provide a divider system that contains more than one dividing wall
such as 35 and thereby more than two filing or storage spaces in a
storage box. This can easily be accomplished by one skilled in the
art of prefabricated boxes, etc., by merely lengthening the cut and
scored blank 13 by twice the interior height of the walls of
storage box 55 for each additional dividing wall 35 desired in the
final divider system. Additional scoring must be provided for the
extra length of the blank, in order to provide for easy folding of
the additional divider walls. Each extra dividing wall provides an
additional storage space in the storage box.
[0026] The preferred method of providing ultimate stability while
at a low cost and while being easy to use, is the use of a separate
securing means that connects the dividing wall 35 to side walls 54,
as seen in FIG. 6. A securing means is attached to each corner of
the uppermost surface of dividing wall 35 where it abuts each of
walls 54 of storage box 55 and simultaneously to the uppermost
surface of each of wall 54 of storage box 55. In particular, this
is possible through the use of a "T"-shaped clip 45 as seen in FIG.
5, fabricated of plastic or metal. It is envisioned that the clip
45 consists of two arms, 60 and 62, wherein arm 60 is molded (if
made of plastic) or attached in a suitable manner, to the center of
arm 62 at a 90.degree. angle, in effect, to form a "T"-shaped
securing means. Arms 60 and 62 may be the same length or may be of
dissimilar lengths. However, each of the arms must be of sufficient
length to be securely attached to walls 54 and dividing wall 35.
Clip 45 preferably has a top surface 82 that is flat, as seen in
FIG. 5A, so that when it is in place on the top of both dividing
wall 35 and walls 54, the flat surface of both items continues, and
no additional height is introduced into the storage box 55. In this
way, once a lid is placed on the open top of storage box 55, it
will sit as securely as if the clip 45 was not present. However, a
securing means such as clip 45 is also envisioned that does not
have a flat top, but rather a rounded one, and as long as tightness
of the lid of the storage box is not an issue, this is also within
the invention.
[0027] The clip 45 must also have descending sides 84 around a
hollow interior center as seen in FIG. 5A, as a means for grasping
the sides of dividing wall 35 and storage box walls 54. Descending
sides 84 may also have a grasping means place on the interior
surface which grips the walls of divider wall 35 and storage box
walls 54. The hollow interior center must be large enough to be
securely placed over the divider wall 35 and each of storage box
walls 54. While divider system 25 has a great amount of stability
even without the use of any securing means, the use of a securing
means such as clip 45 provides much additional stability,
particularly when heavy materials, such as binders, are being
stored inside a storage box.
[0028] It is additionally envisioned that the securing means may
be, for example, a flat, thin, metal rod long enough to span the
width of divider wall 35 and the outside width of the storage box,
placed inside the fold of the apex of divider wall 35, having at
both ends a "T", shape with downwardly bent edges that can be
attached to the top of the perpendicular vertical walls 54 of the
storage box 55, thereby holding divider wall 35 in place in
relation to the vertical storage box walls 54.
[0029] While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been
described and illustrated, it is understood that persons skilled in
the art may recognize that variations may be made to the divider
system of this invention. Therefore, while the invention has been
disclosed generally in preferred terms, it may be obvious to such
persons that additions, deletions, and modifications can be made
therein without departing from the spirit and scope of this
invention, and that no undue limits should be imposed thereon
except as set forth in the following claims.
* * * * *